Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Bush Keeps Eye on Docks

The Bush administration is prepared to block a strike or a work slowdown by West Coast dockworkers should contract negotiations fail, Labor Department officials said today.

The administration is exploring several options to keep cargo moving, though the most likely is for President Bush to impose an 80-day moratorium on any strike under the Taft-Hartley Act. A walkout by the 10,500 West Coast dockworkers, represented by the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and without a contract since July 1, could have a devastating effect on the flow of about $260 billion in cargo through 29 major ports.